


Stars To Steer By

by Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat)



Category: Black Ships - Jo Graham
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-27
Updated: 2012-10-27
Packaged: 2017-11-17 03:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/547032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Eternal%20Scribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You left the fires, Sybil,” Neas said, looking at her with concern.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars To Steer By

**Author's Note:**

  * For [random_chick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/random_chick/gifts).



> Written for my [CottonCandy_Bingo](http://cottoncandy-bingo.dreamwidth.org/) card, Square: _stars_.

The stars were unusually bright tonight and Gull couldn’t help but be drawn out onto the beach close to the incoming waves. Most of their people were asleep and her Lady was lying content within her at the moment. They still had a long way to go, but for now, everything was peaceful and no one had to wear their cares on their shoulders like a cloak.

Gull moved slowly along the sand. She had grown accustomed to hiding her limp after so many years, but her walk was still a slow one when she wasn’t being driven by her Lady. She didn’t mind so much – usually.

Watching the people dancing around the fires earlier had been more painful than she liked to admit to herself; or to anyone else for that matter. It was a bittersweet reminder of things she had given up a long time ago. She didn’t regret swearing herself to her Lady, but it was times like these – few until now – that made her all too aware of what she had foresworn when she promised her Lady that she would hold herself apart from the dance.

Before Neas and Xandros, she hadn’t thought that she was missing out on anything. Oh, she wasn’t forbidden to have relationships with men, but it had never been something that she had hungered for. When her Lady decided that she was to carry her to a new land with the survivors of tragic Wilusa she didn’t realize how much she would be changed.

Gull tilted her head up to the night sky, closing her eyes to enjoy the feel of the breeze coming off of the sea. She was alone here, but she did not fear. Her Lady would not allow her to come to harm – even if she didn’t know that Neas assigned men to keep watch during different hours of the night. She made a near silent sound of pleasure as the surf swirled around her feet. For a moment, she experienced a tinge of loss for She Who Was Pythia and Cythera who had always accepted and shown her kindness.

Cythera who could understand that the Lady was pulling her away from Pylos forever even if they didn’t know why. Cythera who had given her such a blessing before she had joined the ships that were hurrying to sail from Pylos before Idenes and Neoptolemos returned from their raiding to discover the men of Wilusa had attacked Pylos and made away with their captives.

She heard their footsteps before they were close enough for her to touch. She knew they were there and she turned to look at them both with a small smile.

“You left the fires, Sybil,” Neas said, looking at her with concern.

“It was not my celebration or mourning,” she explained. “The victory and reunions were of your own making.”

“It is you who made our victory happen,” Xandros said, looking down into her face. “Nothing we have done would have gone as bloodlessly as it did if you weren’t with us.”

“It’s because of a vow you made, isn’t it?” Aeneas saw far too much sometimes, and in the face of his Sybil, he saw a wildness that was blended with a desire to belong. She served her Lady gladly and with love in her heart, but she was still a very young woman.

“ _I will go out from the dance,_ ” Gull said softly, with no regret in her voice. “ _I will stand apart. None shall praise my beauty and call me beloved._ ” She gave them both a smile and a small shrug. “It is no hardship, giving my all to my Lady. I do it gladly.”

Xandros looked at Neas and something unspoken passed between them that Gull didn’t understand. Yet. She didn’t understand, yet. At a subtle nod from Neas, Xandros reached for Gull’s hand and pulled her closer to the two of them.

“You were mistaken, then,” Xandros said softly. “Serving your Lady does not mean that you should be left on your own while everyone around you is celebrating and reacquainting themselves with their freedom.”

“There are many kinds of dances,” Neas said as he reached for her other hand. He smiled at the confusion that was clear in her eyes. “Twice now you have guided us out of dangers with no thought of yourself. You tied your sail to ours, even when you didn’t know where we were going when we sailed from Pylos.”

“But –“

Xandros shook his head. “It has taken me some time to realize, but when you put yourself apart from us, something feels wrong.”

“It’s out of balance when you hold yourself apart from us, Sibyl,” Neas murmured. “There is something powerful that keeps bringing the three of us into the same wake. I don’t know if it’s your Lady or the Lady of the Sea, but I do know that things seem to go along much smoother when the three of us are in accord.” He lifted his free hand to smooth a strand of hair back from her face. “You’re the balance, don’t you see? You keep me from getting too lost in the storms of duty and you keep Xandros from losing himself to his ghosts.”

“Don’t hold yourself apart from us, Sybil,” Xandros responded. “Surely your Lady is not so cruel as to make you remain alone for the rest of your life.”

Gull closed her eyes, waiting for a sign from her Lady that this was what she wanted her to do or that she should step back and away.

_You must decide freely. My handmaiden need not be always alone. That does not seem the path for you._

Gull opened her eyes and there seemed to the two men that there was a new light within them as she looked between the two men.

“I do not know what this is between us, but the Lady does not seem to think it will do harm.” She gave them both a shy smile. “I just have one request.”

She was pulled in close to Xandros’ chest and Neas wrapped his arms around them both.

“And what is your request, Sybil?”

“That sometimes, when we are alone, you call me by my name.” She closed her eyes, leaning into Xandros’ chest. “Gull. My name is Gull.”


End file.
